This invention relates to a semi-conductor battery of the type including a plurality of laminar semi-conductor bodies arranged on a dielectric support in parallel relation to each other and each comprising two layers of respectively oppositely conducting semi-conductor materials with the layer adjacent the support being of the same conducting type in all of the semi-conductor bodies, and including contact strips electrically interconnecting complementarily conducting layers of adjacent semi-conductor bodies and extending throughout the length of the bodies, and to a method of manufacturing such a semi-conductor body.
A semi-conductor battery of this kind, for converting light into electric energy, is described in the German disclosure document (Offenlegungsschrift) No. 1,564,935. In this disclosure, the semi-conductor bodies are applied to the surface of a support and, preferably, are formed by vapor deposition of contact material and semi-conductor materials, the areas of the support not to be coated being covered, during deposition, by metal masks. The support used for this purpose may be glass, plastics, or ceramic material, for example.
To protect the individual semi-conductor bodies of the known semi-conductor battery from disintegration by weathering, on the earth, or from radiation, in space, the semi-conductor bodies applied to the supporting surface must be shielded, either by cover glasses provided for each of the semi-conductor bodies of by providing a transparent layer covering the entire semi-conductor battery. The cited disclosure, however, does not contain any indication of how this should be done.
Further, in the known semi-conductor battery, stresses are caused within the support by buckling and bending forces, in a large region around their point of attack, which stresses also affect the individual semi-conductor bodies and electric connections. This may lead to a loosening of the deposited contact strips or semi-conductor bodies from the support. Particularly sensitive areas in this respect are the contact edges between the semi-conductor bodies and the contact strips. Due to the buckling and bending forces, the electric connections along these edges may be broken whereby the operation of the entire semi-conductor battery is jeopardized.
In spite of the simpler manufacture of the mentioned known semi-conductor battery relative to other batteries assembled of individual small semi-conductor bodies, at least three masks are still needed for the manufacture in this case. Presence of dirt, positioning difficulties, and tolerance deviations are problems in this technology which, as far as large-surface semi-conductor batteries are concerned, can be overcome only by a highly accurate and expensive manufacture which is hardly suitable for a series production.